Day five at the 28th Annual US Open 9-Ball Championship is winding down and one thing is for sure. This year will not see a six-time US Open Champion. Earl 'The Pearl' fell to Fabio Petroni on the winners side and then to Danny 'Kid Delicious' Basavich on the one-loss side on Friday.
A marquee match on the winners side saw 'The Earthquake' Keith McCready taking on Alex Pagulayan. Keith made his way to the hill first at 10-8, but a missed 8-ball let Pagulayan back in where he quickly finished up that rack and the next to tie the score at 10. By the time, the noise level of the match was enough that the TV Cameras had turned to this table to watch the final game. Alex made a ball on the break and saw the balls stop rolling to a wide open table. Alex confidently announced "This is an easy run" and promptly missed the first ball. McCready ran out the game and took the match 11-10.
The match that bracket watches had been anticipating since day one between Francisco Bustamante and Efren Reyes took place under the TV lights on Friday night. Reyes took the early 3-0 lead and held the lead for most of the match. Towards the end of the match, Bustamante made a run and won four straight racks including a $500 9-ball break. Bustamante got to the hill first at 10-9 and was breaking for the match. Balls went in on the break, but no shot presented itself for the one-ball. A missed 1-7 carom allowed Reyes to the table and Bustamante would only be able to watch as The Magician made the remaining ball disappear as well the balls in the next rack for an 11-10 victory.
Other players remaining undefeated on Friday evening were Niels Feijen, Jimmy Wetch, Danny Hewitt, Jose Parica, Ralf Souquet, Joey Korsiak, Rodney Morris, Fabio Petroni, John Horsfall and Jeremy Jones.
Brackets are online and we have posted the gallery from the players meeting as well as galleries from Diana Hoppe and Mark Whiteside. Look for more pictures to be added to the gallery on Friday.
Photo courtesy of Diana Hoppe - Pool Pics by Hoppe
